Story of attack and survival will air on Paula Zahn show

By Tony E. Windsor

A 1995 Laurel home invasion that almost resulted in a murder will be featured in an upcoming episode of a national television series. An episode of "On the Case" with Paula Zahn," which airs on the Investigation Discovery Channel, will present an account of the 1995 early morning violent attack of single-mother, Kaye Robinson in her Laurel Village Mobile Home park residence. The episode will air on Sunday night, July 21, at 10 p.m., and is entitled, "A Smiley Face in Blood."

Led by Emmy Award-winning journalist Paula Zahn, On the Case features in-depth interviews and original reporting with a mission to go beyond the headlines in search of mysteries from within the U.S. justice system. The Brenda "Kaye" Robinson episode was taped both in New York City and in Delaware and included between eight and 10 interviews with Robinson, state police, paramedics and the newspaper.

A 30-year news veteran, journalist Zahn most recently anchored for CNN where she was based in the network's New York bureau and hosted the primetime show Paula Zahn Now. Before joining CNN, Zahn was the host of The Edge with Paula Zahn, a daily news program on Fox News Channel. She joined Fox in 1999 as anchor of its evening news program, The Fox Report. Previously she spent 10 years at CBS News, where she co-hosted CBS Morning News and anchored the CBS Evening News Saturday Edition.

Earlier, Zahn served as co-anchor of World News This Morning and anchored news segments of Good Morning America on ABC. Throughout her career, Zahn has interviewed dignitaries and newsmakers, including former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, Cuban President Fidel Castro, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, first lady Betty Ford, civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael, and human rights activist Winnie Mandela. She has won nine Emmy Awards, the National Commission of Working Women Broadcasting Award and an AWRT Award for reporting on gender bias in education.

According to producers from On the Case, the Brenda Robinson story fit the show's format perfectly. They said, "Brenda Robinson's story was chosen for its dramatic story arc. In particular the inspirational courage showed by Brenda, her son and those who fought to save her life. Her fascinating and emotional personal crusade for justice helped put a dangerous felon behind bars for life.

We were also drawn to the highly committed police work in Delaware and in Maryland; detectives who refused to allow the case to go unsolved."

Robinson said despite having to relive the nightmare of the attack, she welcomes opportunities to share her story. "I want something positive to come from my story. I'm hoping that others hearing how I survived will be encouraged to value every minute they have," she said. "Paula Zahn gave me an opportunity to get the story in the public eye again. After something like this happens everyone is traumatized, but then it's forgotten."

In April Robinson traveled to New York City to tape the episode. She said the On the Case crew helped her feel a little less intimidated. "I went to New York apprehensive and a little scared," she said. "When I arrived I was greeted by a team of professionals that made me feel very comfortable and welcome. I feel it was a great opportunity to relay a message that you don't have to be frozen in a certain moment. There is still a life to live and I am thankful for every borrowed moment I have."

Robinson's attack was also the subject of a 2009 episode of "Forensic Files" on the TruTV cable channel and an episode of "I Survived," on the Biography Channel. Robinson's horrific story is also the subject of a book, "When Death Comes Knocking," which chronicles Robinson's journey of faith as she struggles to deal with both the physical and emotional trauma of the vicious attack, and a decade-long search for justice. The book is written by Tony E. Windsor, who covered the 1995 incident as a local journalist, and is based on Robinson's first-hand account of the incident and her life over the next 10 years.

The Investigation Discovery Channel is available on the Comcast Cable lineup at channel 111 and on Direct TV at channel 285.

The book, "When Death Comes Knocking," is available locally at Morning Star Publications (Seaford and Laurel Star) office in the Home Team Realty complex, Norman Eskridge Highway, Seaford. It can also be bought online at by visiting: www.createspace.com/3571691. The book is also available on Amazon.com.

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